


Skymines

by katrinawritesthings



Category: SHINee
Genre: Fantasy, Fluff, M/M, taemplants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-22 01:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10687377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katrinawritesthings/pseuds/katrinawritesthings
Summary: listen… taemin living in a cute lil sky village and jonghyun being part of a mining crew that’s coming to scope out the caves beneath itJonghyun crosses the market and hops lightly over the sturdy stepping stones that float between it and Taemin’s place. Up close, Taemin’s house is extra lovely, and so is the view of him from the back.tumblr





	Skymines

Taemin wakes up to water droplets dripping gently down his bedroom window. He blinks slowly, turning over to nuzzle his face into his pillow. Slouching himself out of his bed a moment after, he peers out of the glass. He can see about to the end of his little garden before mist overtakes everything.

“Hmm,” he hums, and shuffles to the bathroom. In a cloud again.

He washes himself up for the day, throws on some of his usual clothes, and shuffles out of his front door, wincing when the morning breeze blows a wet mist of cloud against his skin. Rounding around his house and pushing open the gate to his garden, he stops at the first balloon peach vine and gently tugs it down out of the fog. He plucks off five of the more ripe ones, rinses them at his backyard faucet, and places them gently inside of a small bag. From there, he leaves his garden and shuffles to the edge of the skystone that he lives on.

Some of the smaller floating stepping stones between his land and the next boulder seem a little off today. Hrm. Dang birds. He hops to them anyway, landing lightly on each one, and gathers his balance once he’s on his neighbor’s big skystone. She’ll probably fix those too, anyway. He takes his peaches to her front door and rings the little bell, smothering his yawn in his hand as he waits for her to answer.

When she does, he gives the silent little old lady his sleepiest smile and holds out his peaches.

“Morning,” he says. “My house is in a cloud.” He points vaguely behind him, and the mist that’s surrounding her house as well. “Can you…?” he half asks. Before he even finishes she’s nodding her sweet little old lady smile and rolling up her sleeves to do her magic. He waits for her to do her thing, watching with the usual interest as the wind pours from her fingertips and starts a gentle current. Soon, the clouds shift and bend with it, forming a graceful arc around Taemin’s house and continuing around their path on the other side of it. Taemin smiles as his full home becomes visible: his cute little cobblestone house, the flowery walkways, his floating garden, the thick vines that dangle off of the edge and connect to the second, lower skystone where he sets up his fruit stand. Nice.

“Thanks,” he says, turning back to his neighbor. She smiles back at him and nods, taking her new peaches back inside to make some form of pie that Taemin will crave for the next month. Taemin stuffs his hands in his soft pockets as he hops back to his place to start getting set up for the day now that people from the main market street can actually see him floating in the background.

He glances at the market before he goes back inside, just to check. Minho is already making her little breakfast pastries, Jinki is setting up near the fountain with his guitar, everyone else is still getting ready for the first customers of the day. A glance further back at the skyship docks say that there are going to be a lot; two big ships are floating there, their crews bustling around to unload things. Taemin almost smiles when he recognizes their sails, but then he scowls when he remembers what they actually mean. Ugh.

Miners.

~

Jonghyun smiles at the little box in his hand as he bounces over the swaying bridge that connects the inn’s skystone to the larger one that makes up most of the village. He can see Taemin’s quaint little house in the distance, a few feet removed from the rest of the marketplace. It’s just as cute as he remembers: leafy trees kissing it’s roof, floating vines full of food, and his fruit stand out front, round letters advertising his sales for the day. He loves these cute little villages that he gets sent to sometimes. They’re so much nicer than the sprawling cities. And if he squints enough, he can even see a figure in the distance that might just have Taemin’s head of messy brown hair, which is just icing on the cake.

He makes his way easily over there, shoulder muscles only hurting a little bit from all of his lifting in the mines today. He knew he should have worked out more on the skyship ride over here, but whatever. This is honestly just an excuse to ask Taemin to rub his shoulders. He did seem rather interested in them when they met a month ago. Maybe this time, it’ll lead to Taemin gently scritching the back of his head where he’s the most sensitive, and Jonghyun will hum and nuzzle his neck, and Taemin will be so amused and fond….

Jonghyun bites his lip as he imagines how today can go. He’s excited to meet his favorite vendor again already.

He crosses the market and hops lightly over the sturdy stepping stones that float between it and Taemin’s place. Up close, Taemin’s house is extra lovely, and so is the view of him from the back. Tanned, toned arms, a fresh undercut, a slight angle of a smile on his lips as he bends to fix up a row of grapefruit. Right now there’s no one else buying from him so Jonghyun takes his opportunity eagerly.

“You’re even prettier than I remember,” is what he decides to lead with, and that decision has a wide smile pulling up his lips. That was super suave. Taemin will love it. It’s extra effective because Jonghyun waited a whole extra day to come see him to make him extra surprised. He leans one hand on the counter of Taemin’s fruit stand, watching him fumble with a fruit before setting it down firmly.

“Hmm?” he says, and there’s a flattered little grin on his lips as he turns around. Aha. Jonghyun was right. He totally--

“Oh,” Taemin says. His face falls when he sees Jonghyun standing there, a disappointed little sigh. “You again,” he mumbles. Jonghyun blinks, taken aback. What.

“Oh, uh,” he says, lifting his hand from Taemin’s counter. He scratches the side of his head awkwardly, suddenly feeling very confused and embarrassed. Shit. “Sorry, um,” he says, “Was I, um. Reading you wrong, last month?” he asks. He could have sworn they were super flirting, but now he thinks that maybe they weren’t. “Did--did I make you uncomfortable? Sorry, um, I didn’t--I’ll just--”

“No, no, sorry, that’s not… what I meant,” Taemin says quickly. He hesitates a little in the middle, but steps forward and rests his hand on his counter where Jonghyun’s was a minute before. “It’s not _you,_ ” he says. “Really, it’s not. It’s...” He trails off, glances over Jonghyun’s shoulder, blinks a few times, looks down, rubs his nose, and looks back up. “I _like_ you,” he says. He gives Jonghyun an earnest little smile, pleading with his eyes for Jonghyun to believe him. Jonghyun does, but that doesn’t stop his confusion. He glances over his shoulder, looking blankly for what it is that Taemin _doesn't_ like.

“Um,” he says, slowly looking back. Taemin is looking guilty, a worried pout on his lips. Jonghyun hesitates for just a moment before taking a step closer to his counter again. If Taemin says that he likes him, then that’s all he needs right now for this. “So, anyway,” he says. He’s a little awkward in that, but not in how he holds out his little present box for Taemin to take. “I got you something,” he says brightly. Taemin immediately brightens as well, reaching for the box and gently pulling open the little bow.

“Ooh,” he says. “Thanks.” Jonghyun smiles at his excitement.

“It’s, like,” he says. “Last time you didn’t seem too interested in the jewel I gave you, so this is um. Well, I mean, technically it’s also a jewel, but.” He laughs a little nervously as Taemin pulls off the top of the box. He had this explanation down better in his head. “It’s a bunch of snapdragons,” he says. “Made out of a ruby,” he adds. The native flowers of Jonghyun’s home, and Taemin’s birthstone, together in a cheap little trinket. “I thought, you know, a flower to remind you of me that wouldn’t die while I’m gone.”

After his explanation, Taemin is still silent, but Jonghyun isn’t too worried about this one. His wide, impressed smile says a lot. He holds the jewel gently and looks at all of the intricate little details with wonder. Jonghyun watches, noticing the few inches of height Taemin has on him and biting his lip. He was wearing his boots the last time they talked. He didn’t notice that Taemin was taller than him. He’d have to lean up to kiss him.

He gets so lost in those happy thoughts that he almost doesn’t notice Taemin’s flattered smile faltering. It flickers back to that grimace of disappointment, a short sigh, but before Jonghyun can say anything, Taemin looks up with a new smile.

“Thanks, again,” he says. “I love her.” He puts the ruby back into the box gently, setting it down on a personal shelf behind him. Jonghyun finds himself smiling again at Taemin’s acceptance of his present.

“I’m glad,” he says. He wants Taemin to be happy. “So, um,” he says, leaning casually against the corner of Taemin’s stand. “I was thinking, maybe, would you wanna spend some time together today?” he asks. “Or this week?” He’s sure that they can find some time to go out while he’s still here. He’s been looking forward to this since he got the news from Gwi that they would be coming back to this little skytown.

“Oh,” Taemin says. His smile lifts even more, into something truly genuine. “Um, not today,” he says, “but, the day after tomorrow?” His hand sneaks over to Jonghyun’s on the counter, pointer finger gently rubbing his knuckle. Jonghyun glances down at it and doesn’t even try to fight back his enthusiasm. The day after tomorrow is great.

~

Taemin decides, after a few long, lazy moments of consideration, that he loves Jonghyun’s lips.

The rest of him he can’t be too sure about yet, but his lips are bliss against Taemin’s, thick and soft and receptive. He tugs Jonghyun closer in his lap with the arm around his waist, and with the hand in Jonghyun’s hair, he scratches gently at the bottom of his skull. He’s discovered during their kissing that doing that makes Jonghyun hum and squeeze him tighter and he’s incredibly fond of it.

It’s dark around them, nothing but the dim lighting coming through Taemin’s kitchen window behind them and the little glowbushes he has on either side of his porch swing. The sun set on their floaty cuddling not too long ago, and now the moon shines her light on them, twinkling over them with the stars and the fireflies.

It’s weird, almost, how easy it was for them to fall into this. How comfortable it feels to have Jonghyun in his lap, now natural it feels to be kissing him so deeply. Whenever Taemin tries getting a little kissie with Jinki or Minho it always takes a while, always feels a little bit awkward before they get into it, but this, with Jonghyun, just… doesn’t. Maybe it’s because he isn’t going to see Jonghyun tomorrow, or the next day, or every day after that. It doesn’t have as much impact on his life.

It’s less permanent, but no less important in the moment, and Taemin lifts his right hand from Jonghyun’s waist. He slides it up his back, feeling the broadness of it under his sleeveless shirt, and lets it hang onto Jonghyun’s left shoulder. He squeezes gently and rubs his thumb up and down, feeling the differences between smooth skin and a small scar that marks it. He probably got that from a mine somewhere. Maybe another skymine like the ones in this town, and maybe--

Taemin pulls away from Jonghyun’s mouth, letting his head fall against the back of the bench. A slow sigh leaves his mouth as that small impact swings it a tiny bit. Jonghyun’s fingers curl where they are against his back and Taemin cracks open his eyes to see him pouting, worry on his features.

“Something wrong?” he asks quietly. “That was more of an ‘upset’ breakaway than an ‘I need to breathe’ one.” With one hand he gently pushes Taemin’s bangs out of his eyes. Taemin sighs again, shaking his head against Jonghyun’s worry.

“No, sorry, I was just… letting my mind wander,” he mumbles.

“Wander where?” Jonghyun asks. Taemin winces slightly. Dang it. He didn't even get to try to avoid it first. He looks at Jonghyun, small and serious, and is touched by his concern. It makes him feel kind of warm on the inside, but he still sighs, closing his eyes again. He slides his arms loosely around Jonghyun’s waist, pulling him closer so he can nuzzle into his shoulder.

“You’re so _good_ but you make me feel so _bad_ ,” he whines. It’s not fair. He doesn’t deserve this.

“Um,” Jonghyun says. Taemin feels his fingers gently fluffing the hair at the back of his head. “Wh… how?” he asks slowly. Taemin grumbles noises that aren’t trying to be words. Lifting one hand, he takes Jonghyun’s wrist and moves it to pet the top of his head instead. “Is this about why you greeted me kind of weird the other day too?” Jonghyun asks quietly. Taemin sighs, nodding against Jonghyun’s shoulder. Yeah. That is also included in this whole mess.

“Just,” he sighs, and leans back so Jonghyun can hear him clearly. “You’re a miner,” he says. He looks at the material of Jonghyun’s shirt, not wanting to look up into his concerned eyes. “And I know what happens to little towns like this when miners show up.” He dreads every time a little mining scouting party floats by to peep into the caves around their city. Usually it’s fine, but this is the first time people have ever come back for a second look. As much as he’s glad that Jonghyun came with him, it has him more anxious about the caves here than he ever has been.

“They… get cool minerals?” Jonghyun says hesitantly. Taemin huffs and frowns up at him; he winces, running his fingers through his own hair. “Sorry, I’m not, like, one of the people that _stays_ and does all of the mining,” he says. “I’m just exploration and discovery.”

“Even worse, honestly,” Taemin mumbles. Jonghyun whines a tiny “hey” of offence and Taemin sighs again, shaking his head.

“You’re the reason that actual big companies come into small towns like this,” he says. “You tell them there’s shit in the ground and they come digging it up. And they cut down trees, and ruin the plants, and mess up the gravity balance of the whole place by hollowing half of it out, and there’s construction everywhere, and the clouds get all smoggy, and then either--” He stops himself quickly before he gets too worked up. Rubbing his hand over his face, he shrugs tiredly. Either the small town turns into a huge, loud city, or the miners suck everything out of the land and leave all of their mess behind. He’s had enough of it. He didn’t move here just for it to happen to him again.

“I… oh,” Jonghyun says. He hesitates; then he pushes against Taemin gently, wiggling off of his lap and onto the cushion next to him. Taemin appreciates the space. He blinks slowly when he feels Jonghyun gently kicking off of the ground to make the porch swing sway back and forth soothingly. “Um,” Jonghyun says. Taemin watches his thumbs twiddling in his lap. “If it makes you feel better, uh. My boss says that there’s pretty much nothing down there.”

His voice is light, hopeful; Taemin snorts softly at it’s brightness. Looking up, he pushes his hair out of his face so he can cock a brow at Jonghyun

“Yeah?” he asks. He pretty much already knew that, but he guesses having it confirmed is nice. Jonghyun nods, smiling himself.

“Yeah,” he says. “I think her exact words were, ‘this is the most worthless pile of floating rocks I’ve ever seen.’”

“Oh,” Taemin says, and it’s followed by soft laughter that escapes him before he even realizes it. He covers it with the back of his hand, leaning back in the bench and grinning at the dark sky. Holy shit. He feels like he should be offended, but, “that’s actually… really reassuring,” he tells Jonghyun. Relief fills him as that information really settles in. His village is built on top of garbage. He’s so proud.

~

Jonghyun closes his eyes against the gentle breeze, enjoying the way the sun gently warms his skin. It’ll be summer soon, but he still has a few more weeks of spring to enjoy the giant yellow orb in the sky before it starts being rude. Right now it’s pleasant and he smiles, legs dangling off of the sloped platform that connects the skyship to the docks. Technically he should be helping the rest of the crew load things back onto the ship, but he got one of the new kids to do it for him. He took over their mopping duty like, all week anyway. A favor for a favor.

Sitting here like this, he vaguely realizes the difference between being docked at a skycity and a land one. Usually, they’re way above ground, and he can see for miles, every house, every twisted walkway, each person going about their business like little ants. Here, though, where their ground level is regular skyship level, all he can see are the docks and the inn and supply stores that are closest. It’s different, but not bad, and he enjoys watching the bustling of a few people up close just as much as many people from afar.

“Hey.”

“What-- _ow._ ” Jonghyun winces at the sharp tap to his temple, first turning to his right and then looking behind him for the perpetrator.

“You’re gonna fall, asshole,” Gwi tells him as she continues walking onto the ship without looking at him. Jonghyun huffs after his boss. He is not. And even if he did, he has like, seven little float motes in his pockets anyway. All he’d have to do is snap one in the air and then kind of just flounder his way back up to the dock before the magic wore off. Simple.

He pats his various pockets absentmindedly just to make sure, going down his body and stopping at each one. In one of his pants pockets, he feels an unfamiliar lump and frowns. Wiggling his hand in there, he pulls it out and remembers immediately when he sees what it is: a little package of balloon peach seeds. Right. He hums as he slips it back into his pocket. He still has to figure out where to plant those. He’s thinking two pots; one at his mom’s place, and maybe one on the ship, if he can manage to figure out how to make that work.

“I meant _get up_ , god, come on.” Gwi’s voice is back and so are her hands, grabbing him under the arms and hauling him up easily. Jonghyun whines, stumbles, holds onto her bicep for stability.

“Rude,” he mumbles.

“Shut it,” she tells him. Jonghyun snorts. She’s frowning her concerned little frown, the one that betrays how much she unprofessionally cares about her professional crew. Jonghyun takes a few steps away from the edge to appease her.

“Hey,” he says, tugging her gently back before she leaves him to go be busy again. “We’re coming back in around another month, right?” he asks. For another check of the mines.

“Yeah,” Gwi confirms. “This place is empty but they want us to be _really_ sure, you know?”

“Mmhmm,” Jonghyun hums. They always do three sweeps of exploration before completely moving on to some new potential mine. He waves Gwi off to go back to her business and shuffles up onto the ship, leaning against the railing now so he can continue to waste his time without getting in trouble.

One more stop here in a month, and then maybe Jonghyun will take some of his vacation days to visit this quaint little village alone. No miners.

Just him.


End file.
